Yeti SB-66 / Stumpy EVO / Blur LT

Hello there!

I've got a Cannondale Prophet with 36 right now as my main trail/am/miniDH bike. (I also have Norco DH 2010 but have actually ridden it 10 days in 2010/2011).

I want to sell both.
Reasons to sell Norco – because I almost don’t ride it. Would be smarter to rent a DH bike on a resort. Reasons to sell Prophet:
1. I want to fit reverb seatpost
2. Rear QR and flexy frame
3. Want modern suspension design.

I try to ride aggressively. Pump every downslope, every corner, pop on stuff and to some natural gaps as much as possible. On vocations it is sometimes really steep and technical. I also race super-D twice a year and need a little more confidence inspiring bike.

What concerns me in SB-66:
Will it rip technical singletrack with Talsa set to 130mm? HA seems nice, but BB height bothers me. It will be almost same as with 150 32forks and I also got used to low BB on prophet - but is it ridebale on trail (not a long climb on fireroad)? I always use geo adjust on prophet – XC (steep, high BB) for trail riding where I live, FR (slack, low BB) when go to big mountains.

Other options are:
Stumpy EVO. I like it’s light but it has rear QR – a real disappointment. I suppose stumpy might work better for trail but will be less forgiving in AM… Will it work good with 36 on it? The price for a mass market brand seems high.
Blur LT. Might be not as slack as I like even with 36 on it.

skip the blur lt2 and put nomad in its place- much slacker- great up and much better down

Was thinking about it, but seems overkill for my trail riding, it will be too plush and lazy... It also have short reach (blur should also...)

Yeti is what really took my attention because of what should be super efficient suspension - the leverage rate and chain length growth graphs really impress! If it's marketing ********, but the first reviews seem to prove it.

Igor, you have a tall order there. None of your pick will be excelled at the DH park (without knowing how high the gaps/jump you want to hit). Travel 6" and less is hardly comfortable for a DH ride. Said that all your selection will cover most of your riding track.
I more leaning to SB-66 from your pick, but look also on Pivot Firebird, Giant Reign-X if you want some more cushion for you big AM/mini-DH day.

Wait for the 2012 stumpy evo, 142 rear end which is ta that will solve your qr woes. Sb-66 is an amazing bike but for 95% of your riding you would the the stumpy

Yup, the EVO was the first contender since I saw the video about it. forgot that it has 12mm TA But the FSR is not really efficient and bobs quite a lot, and the new Yeti design is something promising, ans same 150mm travel and supposed to have no bob at all. Even the geo is very similar. Both are great actually, but Stumpy seems a little more trail oriented as SB leans more to AM.

Probably I'll buy the cheaper and easier to get frame

2 bike would be interesting also... I can live a prophet for where I live and but a smaller fork on it and get a Yeti with 36 for mountains. Gotta think this one over!

Igor, you have a tall order there. None of your pick will be excelled at the DH park (without knowing how high the gaps/jump you want to hit). Travel 6" and less is hardly comfortable for a DH ride. Said that all your selection will cover most of your riding track.
I more leaning to SB-66 from your pick, but look also on Pivot Firebird, Giant Reign-X if you want some more cushion for you big AM/mini-DH day.

Sure none of them is a true DH/park bike BUT I am planning to rent one if I need most of the time a prefer true AM rides on natural terrain and trails. It's wiser to rent a DH bike 7-10 days a year than it's is just standing in my house for 99% of the time...

And you can have loads of fun on DH course on a 6" bike! Just need some skills not talking about Champery though

So more burly bike is not an option at all!
6-5.5" rear travel is what I am looking at. The trail I ride 70% of time are like rollercoaster + pumptrack and you have to pedal hard. I tried 5" bikes of my mates, but the seem to much XC - low front end, steep and low travel...

One more option is to have two forks for them 32 and 36 - sensible? Or 130mm 36 will be the same ATC length?

Gotcha.
The other thought that popped into my head is the SC Blur LT is currently using a tapered head tube...meaning it's capable of having an Angleset installed to reduce head tube angle...

Edit: oh, I'm currently (this afternoon) swapping out a 32 Float 150 to a 36 Float 160 on a BLTc for the purpose of slacking the bike out and raising the BB a touch. I can update w/ a ride impression when I have a chance to go tear it up this wknd...

It is definatly worth doing another demo. The VPP on the Nomad changed a few years back and the updated one is supposed to pedal much better. I have a 2007 stumpjumber I demoed a Blur LT and a Mojo HD. Both peddled noticibly better then my old Stumpy and demolished it downhill. I now have an HD on order because it had the best pedaling platform of all the long travel bikes (SB-66 is not out yet and has less travel and is heavier)and if I find its to much I can convert the front and back to 140.

I have a 2011 stumpy fsr, the rear shock can lock out. I have never noticed any bobbing on it. I think the EVO version would best fit your needs. If not then I would look at the enduro as it should handle what you want to throw at it.

I think the EVO linkage is a little different than the regular FSR if I am not mistaken. I just got an EVO for a trail bike. It's almost more bike than I need. I didn't notice any more bobbing than on my Superlight. It's a very plush ride

Sure none of them is a true DH/park bike BUT I am planning to rent one if I need most of the time a prefer true AM rides on natural terrain and trails. It's wiser to rent a DH bike 7-10 days a year than it's is just standing in my house for 99% of the time...

And you can have loads of fun on DH course on a 6" bike! Just need some skills not talking about Champery though

So more burly bike is not an option at all!
6-5.5" rear travel is what I am looking at. The trail I ride 70% of time are like rollercoaster + pumptrack and you have to pedal hard. I tried 5" bikes of my mates, but the seem to much XC - low front end, steep and low travel...

One more option is to have two forks for them 32 and 36 - sensible? Or 130mm 36 will be the same ATC length?

If you want to hover around 5.5" - 6" travel, sure you can find many of them in this category. Somehow I see the virtual pivot short links bike (dW-Link, VPP, Switch, etc) offers efficient pedaling and good bump absorption.
And yes, 36 fork (with 160mm travel) bring a new boundary to your trail riding. I have ridden Pivot Mach 5.7 with 160mm fork and it's way better that the original fork 140/150mm. The frame is strong enough for 160mm (for me) no matter Chris Cocalis say.

Man I was looking at the SB's tricky pivot set...and what scares me is it's a pivot within a pivot! What will the longevity be and how expensive is this pivot to replace?

It's not more complicated than the other mini-links bike to me. How many (main) pivot are there on DW-Link/VPP? 4? (not including the shock mount). And they are known to put so much stress on the lower bearing (the reason of the manufacturer to put tougher or double row bearing there).
From kinematic point of view, (I feel, note that it's not a scientific thought) the stress could also be created from the relative distance between upper and lower pivot. On the Switch technology, those pivots are closer so I hope the stress is not as much on the mini links.
The proprietary design of the Switch pivot is another thing.
Time will tell if it's durable enough over the time.

test ride the SB-66 before you commit to it, I did and wasn't as impressed as I had hoped to be.

I can't agree more with this classic advice. And it's an interesting thought that you didn't impress that much on SB-66, but I am fully with you.
We are always hoping the new model/technology will bring us something better, but what is better measured against?
With the mini-links bike introduction few years back (esp DW-Link) people start to adapt the anti-squat concept more and more. I was in the same boat and tried different bike with different suspension model, to came up with mixed feeling. While I felt some VPP/DW-Link bikes are mostly very efficient on climbing but some were not meeting my expectation on plushness when bombing down rocky trail. It is more true for light rider like me.

It's clear that too much anti-squat must also not as good likewise too less antiquat, at least for me. And since anti-squat is more of geometry function, the shock tuning may have also limitation to deal with it (but that's another story).
I still have the access to ride the bike with Horst-Link, VPP-1, DW-Link (gen-1 and gen-2), Maestro, FSR, single pivot, and I am now always checking the anti-squat functionality to compare with the ride feel.
Sorry for derailling the thread, but I just can't stop to raise this thought.
I still want to try the SB-66 though, to confirm my thought further.

I can't agree more with this classic advice. And it's an interesting thought that you didn't impress that much on SB-66, but I am fully with you.
We are always hoping the new model/technology will bring us something better, but what is better measured against?
With the mini-links bike introduction few years back (esp DW-Link) people start to adapt the anti-squat concept more and more. I was in the same boat and tried different bike with different suspension model, to came up with mixed feeling. While I felt some VPP/DW-Link bikes are mostly very efficient on climbing but some were not meeting my expectation on plushness when bombing down rocky trail. It is more true for light rider like me.

It's clear that too much anti-squat must also not as good likewise too less antiquat, at least for me. And since anti-squat is more of geometry function, the shock tuning may have also limitation to deal with it (but that's another story).
I still have the access to ride the bike with Horst-Link, VPP-1, DW-Link (gen-1 and gen-2), Maestro, FSR, single pivot, and I am now always checking the anti-squat functionality to compare with the ride feel.
Sorry for derailling the thread, but I just can't stop to raise this thought.
I still want to try the SB-66 though, to confirm my thought further.

Part of me felt like I blew thru the travel on the rear end at a 20-25% sag on a rather simple trail. I did not do any jumping, so don't want to know how it would do on a proper Trail/Am situation. If I have to increase the air pressure to prevent blowing thru travel then I'm loosing the plushness of the ride which defeats the purpose of the bike in the first place. Also the pivot points attachment to the rear end was not sturdy which made for a rather flimsy rear end when opening it up to decent with it. I had a buddy's 2011 Enduro s-works for back to back comparison on this ride so it was real eye opener how much more I preferred the Enduro to the SB66.

Part of me felt like I blew thru the travel on the rear end at a 20-25% sag on a rather simple trail. I did not do any jumping, so don't want to know how it would do on a proper Trail/Am situation. If I have to increase the air pressure to prevent blowing thru travel then I'm loosing the plushness of the ride which defeats the purpose of the bike in the first place. Also the pivot points attachment to the rear end was not sturdy which made for a rather flimsy rear end when opening it up to decent with it. I had a buddy's 2011 Enduro s-works for back to back comparison on this ride so it was real eye opener how much more I preferred the Enduro to the SB66.

If you want to hover around 5.5" - 6" travel, sure you can find many of them in this category. Somehow I see the virtual pivot short links bike (dW-Link, VPP, Switch, etc) offers efficient pedaling and good bump absorption.
And yes, 36 fork (with 160mm travel) bring a new boundary to your trail riding. I have ridden Pivot Mach 5.7 with 160mm fork and it's way better that the original fork 140/150mm. The frame is strong enough for 160mm (for me) no matter Chris Cocalis say.

lots of bikes - true, but most seem ugly and not the best geo, I really like the super long TTT of my Prophet and it's super slack

Yes, I also changed from Pike to 36 early this season - what a difference! but It can only be noticed in big mountains, riding at home I don't need that much stifness...

For a mom time I was between a SJ evo and a 575 and I was going to go for the evo until I had my dh bike get stolen so I ended up with an ASR7 as a do it all bike.. but I have seen videos of the Evos being hammered and I have loved every stumpjumper I ever rode. The fsr is a great system and I have no doubt that the sj could take a beating. And I know it would be the best for the trail riding you do most of the time. I am a yeti fanboy but.I try and stay away from first generation stuff and let some of the wrinckles get ironed out first.

I did consider it, but the price is way out of budget.
Stumpy might be the ticket for my needs or i really need two bikes - one 5-5.5" 68HA and 6-6.5 66HA...

I assume this response was in reference to the "try the HD" comment. Natural choice but reading through your comments/likes/dislikes, the HD has an "avg to short" TT (especially compared to the ST). The sb-66 is completely on the opposite side of the spectrum. That's why I wouldn't recommend it. And if you go with the bigger HD's, the ST gets to be unmanageable IMO.....really limits the droppers you could use and the standover would be ridiculous.

It is also more expensive as you say but I was shocked the sb-66 is $2,200 for an AL frame. The carbon frame slated to come out later this year must be $2,500+

You should check out the Rune. I know you want a 12mm TA but the rear stays are beefy....all meat. It's relatively cheap too. The TT is pretty "normal" but the standover is good. You can run an angleset as well if you want to slack it out further.

I assume this response was in reference to the "try the HD" comment. Natural choice but reading through your comments/likes/dislikes, the HD has an "avg to short" TT (especially compared to the ST). The sb-66 is completely on the opposite side of the spectrum. That's why I wouldn't recommend it. And if you go with the bigger HD's, the ST gets to be unmanageable IMO.....really limits the droppers you could use and the standover would be ridiculous.

It is also more expensive as you say but I was shocked the sb-66 is $2,200 for an AL frame. The carbon frame slated to come out later this year must be $2,500+

You should check out the Rune. I know you want a 12mm TA but the rear stays are beefy....all meat. It's relatively cheap too. The TT is pretty "normal" but the standover is good. You can run an angleset as well if you want to slack it out further.

Absolutely true! My friends used to sell IBIS in Russia, so I test-rode them a lot, they are super short, I would take the XL only! Bus the high ST doesn't bother me much because I have crazy long legs
I am also starting to think 2200 is too much for an alu frame...

I am stuck again... can't afford 3 bikes lol.

The rune had plastic bushings in pivots - that really scared me... And don't like aesthetically.

Probably need to dell my DH rig and change it for hard AM bike. And leave the Prophet with a smaller fork for my general trail riding.

+1
GT's been doing some pretty decent carbon work under the radar for a bit now...

the good thing is that i can buy any GT at a very good price but:
it's short on TT
Force has steep HA
high BB (sky high with fox36)
Sanction is better but it's not so fun on local trails and also has high BB
I dont like them visually
I'd like something more bootique
the suspension creaks and needs retightening and cleaning/greasing